Great disappointment on the side of the spectators of Mylène Farmer. The videos that the singer’s fans upload on social networks are systematically deleted. On Twitter, Internet users are annoyed. One of them had published photos and recordings of the Nantes concert of the Nevermore tour. The images have been removed by the social network. Instead a message stating that “The media has been removed due to a report from the copyright holder”. Same on Instagram and Youtube.
On the side of the video sharing platform, we assure that “if the videos have been removed for copyright reasons, it is necessarily that the person who owns these rights has come forward.” It would appear that Mylène Farmer’s teams would hunt for photos of her concerts on social networks. TS3, the production company did not wish to comment on the subject. Yet it is common to find images of star shows on social networks. Many images of the shows of Beyoncé, Harry Styles or Taylor Swift have been shared by Internet users. But obviously, Mylène Farmer is less tolerant. “I think that with the development of digital, people have become accustomed to the fact that any type of content can be conveyed freely. It is a false belief, ”explains Pauline Auberger, director of legal affairs for the National Union of Musical and Variety Shows (Prodiss) at BFM.
If the spectators are disappointed, it should be remembered that recordings during concerts and especially their distribution are theoretically prohibited. Pauline Auberge recalls that as a spectator, “we do not have the right to capture a piece or the entirety of a show and broadcast it on any platform. The mere fact of filming constitutes the fixation of a work in an illegal manner. We are entering the field of counterfeiting, a criminal offense provided for and framed by the intellectual property code. Filming a concert is even criminally reprehensible. And anyone breaking the rule faces a rather hefty fine: up to 300,000 euros and three years in prison. Fortunately for Internet users, sentences like these are rarely handed down.
To hunt offenders, software exists. “Given the volume (of deleted content) and the size of Mylène Farmer, it is almost certain that everything happened on Content ID”, we explain at Youtube to BFM. This software was developed in 2007 to cope with the proliferation of content. Thanks to a “digital fingerprint” provided by the rights holder, Content ID tracks the music in the videos posted on this social network. Once spotted, the copyright holder has three choices: leave the work online and get viewing statistics, leave it online and monetize it for their own benefit, or have it taken down.
